Moral Sentiments of Casablanca In The Theory of Moral Sentiments Adam Smith proposes a philosophical framework from which human morality and behavior comes from, one that could explain how in a society of free self-interested individuals that the society would not consume itself in expression of its selfish nature. These selfish tendencies would instead be controlled by sympathy for others and man's own self-love. Members of the society are instead compelled to behave morally out of their own interest. Although some will behave improperly, they will be in the minority, while the masses will, from either lack of ability or fear of the repercussions, act in a manner that preserves the system. The basis for this system emerges from human sympathy. While we do not experience the lives of others, or directly feel their emotions, it is through our imagination and experience, according to Smith, we are able to feel to some extent what it is like to be somebody else. By imagining what it would be like for ourselves to be in their situation we mirror their feelings. Their sadness, and happiness, failure and success in a small way become our own. Because the outcomes of the lives of others have an effect on ourselves we gain an interest in their fortune. If we are made sad by the poor circumstance of another we may be compelled to aid them if doing so might bring ourselves some satisfaction. We are not purely altruistic when we give a helping hand, rather we do so because we receive some benefit. The film Casablanca tells the story of Rick Blaine who is left with the fate of two lovers, Victor Laszlo and Ilsa Lund, in his hands. Laszlo and Llsa are fleeing the war in Europe for the United States and come to Casablanca in search of papers allowing their exit. Nazi officials wish for Laszlo, a prominent member of the Czech Resistance against Germany, to remain in Morocco and working with local authorities obstruct him from leaving. At the beginning of the film Rick is approached a petty criminal by the name of Ugarte. Ugarte has obtained letters of transit from two German soldiers he has murdered. He informs Rick that he will sell them that night, but gives them to Rick for safe keeping. However, Ugarte is arrested before he can carry out the transaction and during his flight from the authorities is killed. To Adam Smith, Ugarte's death is just because Ugarte has broken what he refers to as natural laws. He has taken the lives of other human beings, the most serious crime possible, and it is only fair that he receives the most severe punishment: death. He has also committed the less serious but still reprehensible act of theft. Although Casablanca is depicted as having a shady underworld running virtually out in the open, Casablanca remains stable society delivering people their wants. Its members may have obvious moral flaws, but they are not to the complete detriment of the society because there exists the possibility that justice will be brought to them in equal magnitude of their crimes. Many members of the society are selfish, they extort money from desperate refugees by selling them transit papers for exorbitant prices, as Ugarte attempts. Adam Smith argues that it is more important for a society to be just than beneficent. In his words, while a society held together by the bonds of brotherhood and love may be more pleasant, even a society of murderers, thieves, and other criminals is still a society. While they must not kill and rob each other, or else the society will collapse, justice is the institution which keeps each man's love for himself in check. Justice reinforces the natural laws of man which preserve the society he exists in. When Ugarte, who is only able to operate because the city's authorities allow him to, steals from and murders Nazis, he is subject to their justice. Although Ugarte violates the social codes that his peers have agreed upon, these violations are rare. It is more common for the members of the society to follow the codes they have set, even when they stand to gain by breaking them, because there exists the possibility that they will be harmed in a way that their possible gain is outweighed by the punishment for their actions. The police captain of the city, Louis Renault, is corrupt and allows illegal activities such as gambling in Rick's club in return for bribes. He is further complicit with and works for the Nazis, helping keep Laszlo in Morrocco. He professes he has no loyalty for them, but is rather bowing in whichever direction the wind the blows. He is by no means a moral man, and would seem to pose a problem for Smith's framework. However, it is because of Renault's high position of authority that he acts in the way he does. For Smith, those in society's highest stations are those who are at greatest risk for acting immorally because by virtue of their position the rules of the masses do not apply to themselves. It is also because of his high position that the Captain finds incentive to behave immorally. If he were not able to close down Ricky's club at will, then he would not be able to solicit bribes and free drinks. It is also because he has attained this rank in society and wishes to preserve it that he works with the Nazi's to keep Laszlo in Morocco. As Smith remarks, the misery of a fallen monarch is greater than that of the lowest man, not because of his situation, which even in his reduced state is undeniably better off, but because of having attained a rank so high he is made miserable by losing it. He is unable to be content with what he has because he is fixated on what he has lost. Rick, who has come into possession of the papers that Laszlo and Llsa need to escape from Morocco, is faced with the moral dilemma pursuing his own interest, or aiding Laszlo whose cause is noble and is to the benefit of the rest world. Initially Rick is opposed to helping them at all, refusing to sell them papers even when he would profit. It is revealed to the audience that before the German invasion Rick and Llsa were lovers in Paris, and that Rick had previously been helping combat fascist forces in Spain and Ethiopia. With the news that the Nazis planned to storm Paris, Rick realizes the city is no longer safe. He resolves to flee by train the next day and casually proposes marriage to Llsa who denies him, foreshadowing her abandonment of Rick. While waiting for her at the train station he realizes that she will not show up and leaves without her. His heart broken, Rick becomes cynical and later claims he is indifferent to the outcome between the Allies and Axis, despite having earlier taken sides. He even goes further to say he sticks his head out for no one. Rick's initial refusal to aid Llsa and Laszlo is because of the impropriety of Llsa's earlier actions to Rick. In Adam Smith's framework, individuals are only capable of giving sympathy to those whose actions we agree with, and those who have wronged us to our detriment we wish to exact retribution. From Rick's point of view, Llsa has wronged him and does not deserve to flee with her husband. When Laszlo asks him why Rick refuses to give him the papers, he responds “ask your wife.” It is with more information that Rick changes his mind. Llsa informs him that she had been with Laszlo at the time they first met, however she had believed him killed in an attempt to escape a concentration camp where he was being held. In her grief and loneliness she sought out the company of Rick. It was not until the day before they were to flee from Paris she learned that Laszlo was in fact alive and in need of care. Fully understanding the Llsa's motivations for her actions Rick comes to sympathize with her situation. Although she tells him that she still loves him and will even stay with him, it is only if he will let Laszlo go. Rick understands Llsa tells him this not because she loves him, but instead because her love for Laszlo is so great and wishes to see him continue his work. He cannot bring himself to keep Llsa in Casablanca because doing so would deprive herself and Laszlo from each other, and as a result his sympathy brings him to ultimately aid them in their escape. Further, Rick realizes that helping them is the virtuous thing to do. If he is to act selfishly by keeping Llsa, or denying both of them transit, he will be forced to live with the weight of his actions. In Adam Smith's model, if we carefully consider our actions we split our consciousness into two, the observer and agent. The observer attempts to view the self as an indifferent party would, weighing our actions and developing opinions as if the outcome did not matter, but on what would be right. The observer is the judge, and it compels us to act justly. The agent is no different from our own motivation, it sees our behavior through our potential cost and gain, weighing our actions as to how it will immediately benefit ourselves. While Rick may want Llsa as a lover, he realizes to take her would be wrong, and would not be able to live with the weight of the decision on his conscious. It would bring him to look upon himself with disgust, as an impartial observer would at someone whose self-love has caused them to act unjustly. He cannot pursue his own immediate interest because it would not benefit him more than the mental cost of his own disapprobation. Smith's framework yields insight into what preserves the society we live in. It may be unsettling to see ourselves as part of a community of self-interested individuals acting out of greed, but following our incentives does not necessarily make us nefarious. Even if humans can be calculating, we are not completely cold. As with Rick, we may be compelled to do the right thing because it provides us intrinsic mental benefits. However, it should be immediately obvious to all of us that humans do not actually do the right thing all the time, and that is why Smith believed justice was the institution that allowed modern societies to exist. It should then be clear that justice should apply to all people, regardless of their position, whether these people happen to be lowly crooks, or work at HSBC. Ironically, it is important for a free society to have laws. While laws naturally in some ways make us less free, the society itself provides its members with opportunities that would not exist otherwise, making the ideal purpose of our laws to make us as free as possible. The measure of a law's quality then should be whether the law serves to actually empower those that fall below it.